


Blackbird

by evil_brainmate



Series: Monarch (butterfly) [3]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: M/M, Nonbinary Eggsy, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4050649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evil_brainmate/pseuds/evil_brainmate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“How is this my life? I just want a nice dinner and maybe some cute couple-y cuddling stuff, but no. Some nut job fucks up and decides to take the entirety of international espionage down with him.”</p><p>In which a date does not happen, but sort of does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blackbird

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd. This fic follows [Perhaps A Little More Conversation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3673074).
> 
> Also, I apologize for the lateness of this update. Work and cosplay sucked up all my time for the past month. As always, find me at my Kingsman sideblog [@OGGALAHAD](http://oggalahad.tumblr.com)

It starts with Harry missing their first (and potentially only) date with nary a phone call or even a text.

Eggsy spends a whole thirty-eight minutes just sitting there at a table in some posh restaurant of Harry's choosing. He's dressed to the nines in the suit Roxy picked for him and constantly checking his phone. _Maybe he realizes this is just too weird. Maybe he really doesn't want someone with your particular baggage,_ the nasty part of his subconscious whispers _._ Eventually, the pitying looks from the wait staff get under his skin and Eggsy pays for his cola and leaves.

And so, another hour later, Harry finds Eggsy in a pub reminiscing with his old mates; nursing a shitty beer and his wounded pride.

“Eggsy,” Harry calls over the din of music and conversation.

“Well look who it is,” Eggsy grumbles and slams back the last of his beer. He hasn't even had time to get a proper buzz yet. “What do you want, Harry?”

“This is strictly business, I'm afraid. Some associates want to have a meeting.”

Eggsy nods his understanding and leaves cash for his drink. “Was good to see you boys, but the man's helpless without me. See you around, yeah?”

Ryan and Jamal say their goodbyes and as Eggsy follows Harry out to the car, he surreptitiously checks his appearance in a small compact he keeps in his coat. Not that a tiny little part of him still hopes to impress Harry. Of course not. There’s just no reason not to look one’s best when kicking ass, that’s all. Once Eggsy climbs into the vehicle, Harry hands him a pair of glasses and a tablet without a word and drives. Eggsy slips the glasses on and flicks through images showing a man in his mid-to-late thirties; brunette, average height and weight, generically handsome face that can easily disappear in a crowd. Obviously a spy.

“His name is Gabriel Mercer--a former MI6 operative accused of trading intelligence to anyone who could meet his price,” Merlin informs him. “Normally, Kingsman doesn't bother with the affairs of government run organizations, but it appears that Mr. Mercer became aware of his impending burn and rather permanent retirement and has taken precautionary measures. Before MI6 could facilitate Mercer's detainment and execution, Mercer was able to contact parties within several criminal and espionage organizations and then managed to disappear for weeks. He's resurfaced within the last forty-eight hours and has revealed that he holds sensitive information that would cause upheaval in intelligence networks and political infrastructures of several nations. He intends to ransom it, obviously.”

“Kinda pointless innit? I mean what good's money to a dead man?” Eggsy asks.

“He's gambling. Either MI6 gives him his life for the safe return of the intel—”

“Not bloody likely.”

“Or he sells it all to the highest bidder, and takes everyone down with him. In the wake of V-Day there are plenty of usurpers out there looking for an edge.”

Eggsy frowns and looks through the admittedly short file. Seems like MI6 is being tight-lipped about the whole thing even when they are asking for help.

“If he's been back on the radar for forty-eight hours, why ain't someone dealt with him?” Eggsy asks.

“Unfortunately, the team sent to detain him hasn't reported back. Either Mercer has swayed them to his side, or more likely, he's killed them. SIS is considering leveling his current location, but that would require some impressive PR magic to cover up. Also, there's no guarantee Mercer can't slip the net or release the intelligence before then.”

“That's why they called Kingsman. So what's the plan?”

“It appears Mercer has holed up in an old schoolhouse,” Merlin replies as the screen switches to an image of a derelict building. “Administrators closed the building a few years back. It was falling into disrepair and the district's budgets couldn't cover the cost of renovations and updates. It should still be structurally sound though.”

“Great," Eggsy grumbles. "Do I get hazard pay for this?”

Merlin ignores the comment and continues: “Your objective is to stop the trade, which will most likely happen once the buyer wires him the money, whereupon Mercer will transfer the file via a secured server. Depending on his connection and the server speed, this should take a few minutes.”

“And what about Mercer?”

“British SIS would prefer him returned alive, presumably to garner information about his sources,” Merlin says.

“Not a Kingsman requirement though?” Eggsy asks. Harry is conspicuously silent during the briefing and steers the car up the lane leading to the Kingsman estate. A helicopter is already waiting to fly them to the middle of nowhere, because apparently villains can't set up in the city near a tube station.

“Mercer's capture is a bonus,” Merlin says. “You are authorized to take whatever steps are necessary.”

“Got it.”

“Unfortunately, you can only fly so close to the town without alerting others to your position, so I will arrange for a car to be at the landing site. You'll then drive to the rendezvous point and make your way to the school on foot. We're short on available staff, so it's going to be you and Arthur until I can arrange your backup. One last thing: Mercer has made some nasty friends over the years, so he undoubtedly has an army of hired thugs waiting for you.”

“Easy,” Eggsy replies with a smile.

\--

Two hours and three shootouts later, Eggsy thinks he may have cursed them with his earlier cockiness. Mercer's men, though not highly skilled, come ready for trouble.

“Y'know, I didn't really expect this much gun play on our first date,” Eggsy shouts over the cacophony of bullets and exploding plaster as he ducks behind a long abandoned nurse's station. “Gotta work up to that, yeah?

“Can you even classify this as a date?” Harry asks.

“I guess not. I mean you stood me up and all.” There's a certain bite to the words as Eggsy hurls a metal tin at one bloke's head, reveling in the satisfying ping it makes as it splits the man's eyebrow. The distraction gives him time to scramble closer to Harry's position.

“I did not stand you up,” Harry scoffs while reloading one of his pistols. “I just got a little distracted with international security matters.”

“I was waiting in that restaurant almost forty minutes,” Eggsy spits and shoots a bloke who pops his head from behind the doorframe. “I looked pathetic.”

“Yes, well you seemed well enough when I picked you up from the pub.”

“Wait. You miss our date and now you're rankled cos I was having a pint with my mates? I wasn't gonna let the night be a total waste.”

“Gentlemen,” Merlin calls over the comms. “Not sure this is an appropriate venue for airing your personal affairs.”

Footsteps echo down the hall, and really how many more men does Mercer have to send their way? Eggsy listens and counts the number of feet. Determining that they're getting nowhere at this rate, Eggsy pulls the lighter from his pocket and tilts his head in the direction of the door.

“Merlin's right. Is this really the time to discuss this, Galahad?” Harry sighs as he pulls Eggsy to him behind the shield of his Rainmaker. A new round of guards enter the room and begin firing upon them.

“Well, given that we might get shot at any moment, why not?” Eggsy asks.

They wait a few seconds for a break in the hail of bullets and synchronously Harry clutches Eggsy a little closer while the young man lobs the grenade into the hall where the bulk of the cronies are waiting. Harry's mouth curves into a tight frown with the explosion and resulting screams.

“It's perfectly acceptable that you went out with your friends,” Harry replies, because no he is _not,_ in fact, rankled that Eggsy tried to catch up with Jamal and Ryan. He knows just how deep Eggsy's loyalty runs when it comes to friends, and it probably killed Eggsy not to see them for months on end.

Satisfied that they're no longer under immediate threat, Harry collapses his umbrella, pushes himself to his feet and makes his way cautiously to the door. Eggsy trails two steps behind to his left, covering his blind spot. While Harry has recovered as much as he ever will post-Valentine, his vision isn't quite what it used to be and his peripheral vision on the left is complete shit.

As they reach the doorway, Eggsy slips past Harry to check down the hallway leading away from the nurse's office. It looks like the survivors of the grenade blast have retreated further into the building and are regrouping. Harry meanwhile, steps over a few mangled bodies to investigate the nearby broom cupboard. Satisfied that no one is hiding inside, Harry nods to Eggsy and the two make their way down the hall.

“Really, I do apologize for making you wait, but given the circumstances...” Harry's sentence is cut off by bullets popping into the drywall less than a meter from their position. Within seconds Harry determines the location of their assailant and fires a shot between the man's eyes.

“How is this my life?” Eggsy mutters as he pulls open the door to the next room on the left and caps the two goons lurking inside. “I just want a nice dinner, and maybe some cute couple-y cuddling stuff, but no. Some nut job fucks up and decides to take the entirety of international espionage down with him.”

“Cuddling? Really?” Harry glances around a room, deeming it clear before closing it up again.

“Yeah. Not setting my hopes too high that you're the type to put out on the first date. Or non-date. Whatever.”

Harry doesn't respond to that supposition. The two of them quickly work through their process of elimination. Go down the hall, check a door, kill anyone inside, and repeat ad nauseam. They make their way through the first floor towards the stairs to the second. Of course, there are still two floors to go and Mercer's bullet sponges are rapidly consuming their ammo.

“Backup should be there soon, gentleman,” Merlin informs them as Eggsy cautiously picks his way up the staircase.

“I don't suppose I could convince you to give me a second chance at a first date?” Harry asks, as though they're taking a walk in the park and not on a mission where their handler can hear every word of the conversation.

“Gotta leave for assignment tomorrow night, remember?”

“After you get back, then?”

“Yeah, alright,” Eggsy huffs, and scouts around the corner before stepping into the hall of the second floor. Yeah he's pissed that Harry bailed, and Harry is being so charming and pleasant despite Eggsy's temper. It just makes Eggsy feel like a petulant child. “I better get a serious make out session th—!”

The crack of a gunshot swallows the rest of the sentence and Eggsy stumbles backwards.

“Galahad?! What happened?” Merlin's voice crackles through the glasses feed. The screen whirls and Eggsy ducks back around the corner into the stairwell.

“That bastard just shot my tie! That was Hermès you uncultured fuck!” Eggsy bellows over his shoulder, but the only response is chips of brick and mortar that fly next to his skull while bullets ricochet.

“Are you alright?” Harry asks, heart hammering in his chest.

“Yeah, I'm fine. Tie's a loss though,” Eggsy growls and picks at the ruined purple silk.

“Please tell me you aren't wearing civilian gear on a mission.”

“Just the tie. Pretty sure Andrew would shank me if I bought a suit from a competitor.”

After a few seconds tick by and it looks like their pursuers aren't giving up, Eggsy decides he's tired of waiting for the bullets to stop flying.

“Arthur,” Eggsy says and gestures to the Rainmaker. “How are we doing?”

“Not good. These have lower ammo capacity to start with and I used up most of my pistol ammo downstairs. Haven't been having much luck with their weapons either.”

“Where's that back up Merlin?” Eggsy growls.

“Should be arriving soon, gentlemen. Just a while longer.”

A piece of shattered brick slices across Eggsy's cheek and he scoots down a stair. Eggsy curses the layout of the building because the only other means to get to the second floor is a broken and blocked off stairway across the building, and their assailants know this and are closing in.

“Think that'll hold long enough for you to be a distraction?” Eggsy asks.

Harry glances around the corner and pulls back before the mercs even have a chance to squeeze the trigger. “Last I checked it had about 30% of its shield integrity left. I assume you have a plan?”

“Yeah. Merlin, how many are there?”

“Five that I could see from your feed,” Merlin replies. “Three on the left, two on the right. There will be more further on I'm sure.”

Eggsy nods and fishes around in his pocket, pulling out his compact with one hand while readying his pistol in the other. “Trust me?” He asks Harry.

“Of course,” Harry replies, and opens his umbrella stepping into the resulting waves of bullets.

Eggsy listens for the final shot from Harry's weapon and flicks open the compact in his hand. He raises the mirror to eye level just over his shoulder and sees Mercer's thugs focusing their attention fully on Harry. Eggsy wraps his arm across himself and braces his forearm in the crook of his elbow. The angle is fucking awful and he adjusts his non-dominant hand holding the pistol. He mentally lines up the shot in reverse of the mirror and pulls the trigger.

Thug number one on the right is down.

Eggsy lines up the next shot and another falls.

He aligns with the third target and the mirror explodes and he drops the compact.

“Fuck,” Eggsy hisses. He hadn't really expected that trick to work for long and he's pretty sure a bit of glass is embedded in his palm, but he can't deal with that now. He knows for sure three of the bastards are down, one on the left taken out by Harry's initial blast and two on the right Eggsy got himself. That just leaves the two on the left side of the hall.

Eggsy glances around the corner and sees that they're closing in on Harry quickly; they probably know he's out of ammo. Eggsy swallows his panic and reaches for his destroyed compact, scraping up the cracked powdercake and grinding it into his palm. Eggsy bolts out from behind cover. One, two, three, four strides and he's passed Harry now, all attention focused on him. He shields his face behind his arm and winces at the bruising pressure as his suit stops the bullets. Two more strides and he raises his other hand hurling the crushed foundation into one guard's eyes. The man sprays bullets in a blind panic and Eggsy shoves him to the ground using the momentum to twist around and slam his palm up under the jaw of the second attacker. While the man is dazed, Eggsy latches an arm around the man's shoulders and swings himself behind his victim finishing with a ruthless snap of the neck. He snatches the gun from the corpse and finishes off the half blinded merc on the floor with two shots to the skull.

“You alright?” Eggsy calls to Harry.

“It appears so. Interesting tactics.”

“They would've gotten a head shot on us eventually. Could've gone better. Slide bit the shit out of my thumb the first time,” Eggsy replies as he searches the corpses. He finds a lovely little piece on his second victim. “PSS. What do you think? Russian?”

“Russian gun,” Harry answers checking the pistol. “These were originally issued to the KGB when I was your age, but they're a bit more widely used now by special forces. Given the lack of training, I'd say this wasn't originally his.”

“A shame. We could've used some leads,” Eggsy says and checks the safety before tucking the gun in his jacket. It's not his usual weapon of choice given the short range, but he'll take it.

“Well, it looks like you boys didn't need my help after all,” a feminine voice chimes through their glasses feed.

“Fuck yeah, Rox!” Eggsy replies. “Took you long enough.”

“Codenames, Galahad,” Roxy chides. “I was en route to an assignment when I got the call, sorry. You certainly made a mess down here. What's your location?”

“Second floor south stairwell. The north is blocked,” Harry answers. “Always a pleasure to have you with us, Lancelot.”

“See Galahad? You should take some cues from Arthur on how to address the lady who is here to save you.”

“Yeah, later. You got the goods?” Eggsy can hear Roxy's distinctive gait traversing the stairs. She must be running to meet them.

“Of course,” Roxy replies as she rounds the corner into the hallway. She passes off fresh ammo clips and incendiaries to Eggsy, which earns a ‘cheers’ in return. “Who gets this?” she asks, gesturing to the umbrella over her shoulder.

“Give it to Galahad,” Harry says and Eggsy whirls on him with fire in his eyes.

“What? You realize yours is basically worthless now, right?” He growls.

“Be that as it may, we have a job to do. Lancelot, a pistol and some magazines if you please.”

Roxy hands over the supplies in question without a word.

“Now, this stairway to the third floor is still accessible, but we don't know about the staircase at the other end of the hall and that's a potential point of intrusion that requires investigation,” Harry explains. “Given your current arsenal, Galahad, you will wait here to engage anyone coming up or down the stairs. I will proceed to the north side of the building on this level. Lancelot, I will ask that you assist me to the halfway point, and remain there. Galahad, once I reach the north stairwell, if the way is clear, you and I will both head up, or else regroup. Lancelot, once we're up there, I trust you to backtrack and check for anything we might have missed. Merlin will alert you if one of us needs backup.”

“But—”

“Galahad,” Harry replies, his tone brooking no room for reproach. “I have done more with less.”

Eggsy huffs in irritation, but stifles his objections. Roxy and Harry depart for the opposite side of the building, and Eggsy checks his weapons and patrols his little segment of the hall. The sound of gunfire echoes in the corridor, but Eggsy viciously crushes the waves of anxiety rolling through him in response.

“All clear, Galahad,” Eggsy hears Harry's voice through the feed roughly ten minutes later. “North staircase is intact. Moving to the third floor now.”

“Roger that. See you in a minute,” Eggsy replies and climbs the stairs two at a time with the Rainmaker poised in front of him.

\--

Harry begins his decimation of the third floor with ruthless efficiency. Three armed men at the top of the stairs mean nothing when he shoots one in the back of the head and tugs the body to him as a temporary shield. The next gets two shots to the head, and the third gets three to the torso. Harry then releases the body in his grip and begins his survey of the nearest classrooms. He delivers a devastating hit to an ambusher's throat and tucks the muzzle of his gun under the man's chin before pulling the trigger. Blood spatters around them and Harry purses his lips in distaste when a drop gets on his polished Oxfords. He wipes his shoe on the dead man's pant leg and checks the room; empty save for dust and trash.

Harry closes up the room behind him and surveys his surroundings. The distinct lack of guards in this section raises the hairs on his neck, but perhaps Mercer hadn't intended anyone to get this far. Indeed, Eggsy and Harry cut a bloody swath through the first two floors and the assistance of Roxy now tipped the scales in their favor. A flurry of gunfire down the hall alerts him to the fallacy of those thoughts. It seems Eggsy is garnering as much attention as ever.

Given that Eggsy hasn't requested backup, Harry continues his investigation. Four classrooms later, Harry reaches the first turn of the U-shaped hallway and finds his target: A classroom like any of the others, save for easy access to a fire escape for a hasty getaway. Harry peeks into the room and sees a running laptop perched on a table between two armed guards. Not much of a challenge, but given their kill count and Eggsy's ruckus down the corridor, he doubts Mercer would leave an army to babysit some technology. Harry strides into the room and caps the two sods within seconds before turning to the laptop.

Harry plugs his USB drive into the computer and hears a tiny click and a high-pitched whine.

“Merlin?” he hisses.

“Get down!”

Harry attempts to shield his face in his arms and hurtles to the side just before the laptop detonates. Hot sparks and a few bits of shattered plastic slice through the air, suffusing it with the stench of melted circuitry. Harry hits the floor like a ton of bricks, blinded and deafened from the blast and choking back bile from the pressure pounding in his skull.

“Flashbang,” he grumbles, the sound inaudible to his own ears. His words are probably a garbled mess, but hopefully his glasses aren't completely fucked and Merlin or Eggsy got the message.

Harry curls in on himself and waits for the initial shock to pass.

\--

A deafening boom echoes through the building and Eggsy's glasses, followed by Harry's distinctive voice shuddering “flashbang”, and Eggsy bids a glorious “fuck you” to any last vestiges of civility. He leaps forth and tackles one mercenary and slams the man's skull into the ground while raising his pistol to fire into the face of another. Before the body even hits the ground, he turns the weapon to dispatch with the man under him. He then pushes himself forward to sweep the legs out from under a man exiting a nearby classroom. Eggsy lines up his sights with the man's skull, pulls the trigger and hears the click of an empty chamber. Eggsy growls and tosses aside his pistol in favor of stealing his target's own knife to slit their throat instead. Eggsy flicks his eyes toward the nearby doorway, and the approaching goon following after his mates. Eggsy scrambles forward and attempts to close in for a kill, however this one is smart enough to step away and pull out his assault rifle. Eggsy rolls out of the way of the initial cluster of bullets and swings his now sadly non-lethal Rainmaker to shield himself. He glances around the pile of bodies surrounding him and pulls a matching semi-automatic from one of his victims. Eggsy lurches the barrel in the general direction of his attacker and squeezes the trigger. Bullets spray and ricochet everywhere but he hears the satisfying thud of not one, but two foes hitting the tile.

Eggsy glances around the edge of the umbrella and sees the collection of corpses in the hall, but no one approaching. Either the rest are waiting in ambush, or they made the mistake of going after Harry initially.

“Merlin, any word on Arthur?” Eggsy asks. His tone is all cold professionalism as he checks his pilfered weapon. He frowns at the nearly empty magazine, and hauls himself to his feet to search through the carnage he wrought for ammo. The Rainmaker is all but useless to him at this point, so he leaves it where it sits.

“None. And that's not good, Eggsy. Harry's reflexes meant he was at a distance where a flashbang couldn't have affected his glasses. It would seem—”

“Someone's with him,” Eggsy hisses. He finds an unused magazine on one of the bodies and slots it into place then retrieves his discarded Kingsman TT-30 before heading toward Harry's last known location.

\--

Harry's vision is returning, albeit as a splotchy mess for now, when he feels an arm wrap around his waist and hoist him to his feet. There's a brush of knuckles against the scar tissue around his left eye and Harry flinches away causing his head to swim for a moment. He leans helplessly against the person while his balance wavers. Then, he feels a knife press to his throat and a gun tuck against his belly. Harry has no idea if his captor is speaking for all the ringing in his ears, but they're considerate or stupid enough to not slit throats first and ask questions later. Given the unreliable state of his balance and coordination, Harry has no choice but to wait for the worst of the effects to pass and formulate a plan.

Of course, as soon as his ears pop and he can hear muffled sounds other than his eardrums ringing, Eggsy waltzes into the room with a stolen AR-15 in hand. He's going to have words with Eggsy about ammo consumption one of these days.

“Arthur!” Eggsy shouts and his heart clenches at the sight before him. Harry appears mostly unhurt, but the wavering focus of his eyes hints at a minor concussion. Behind him stands Mercer, stock-still and assessing Eggsy. Eggsy keeps his weapon level, but they all know Harry's a dead man if Eggsy takes the shot or Harry tries to escape in his state.

“Not so fast,” Mercer says. “You two have caused quite the mess, but I don't think you want something to happen to this man. You seem rather... fond of him. Unload your weapon and throw it away if you would.”

Eggsy winces at the insinuation. It's obvious that Mercer has been listening to them the whole time, and perhaps Merlin had a point that they shouldn't be airing their dirty laundry mid-mission. Regardless, he complies, lowering his rifle and popping the magazine and releasing the chambered round.

“Galahad don't--” Harry says, but Mercer presses the knife a little closer to skin and silences him.

“Sir, I would appreciate it if you would remain quiet,” Mercer says before turning his attention back to Eggsy. “Galahad, was it? Those lovely little custom pistols that you Kingsmen seem so fond of too, please. Let the transfer finish and once I'm on my way you and your friend here are free to go. I guarantee it.”

Eggsy swallows as he sets the rifle at his feet and reaches to his rear holsters pulling out his modified Tokarevs.

“Don't think to test my patience boy. I will kill him if I must,” Mercer hisses and a bead of blood runs down Harry's throat.

“Alright!” Eggsy shouts. “I'm putting 'em down see?” And he sets the pistols next to the rifle and takes a slow step back with his hands raised in front of him.

“That's a good lad,” Mercer says.

“You can let my man breathe now, yeah?” Eggsy asks.

“Insurance purposes, Galahad. I'm sure you understand,” Mercer replies and moves the knife only a fraction of an inch away. “I can't risk letting you both get in the way now, can I?”

“Pretty sure he can't even walk in a straight line right now,” Eggsy huffs, because he can see some of Harry's balance is returning, but he's still not a hundred percent.

A chirping alarm rings through the room.

“Eggsy, the wire transfer is complete. The data transfer is starting now,” Merlin informs him.

“We good?” Eggsy asks keeping his eyes on Mercer, but making no obvious moves.

“Almost,” Mercer replies and glances toward the smoking remains of the laptop, and that's all that Eggsy needs to know.

In Mercer's momentary distraction, Harry shifts his right shoulder up to jostle the arm around his neck and wraps his left hand around the wrist at his throat and pushes the blade from his skin. Unfortunately, in the same instant Eggsy pulls his stolen PSS from his waistband and levels it with Mercer's brow, inches from Harry's temple and pulls the trigger.

For what feels like an eternity, Harry doesn't so much as breathe; his escape attempt aborted as he stares down the snubbed barrel of the pistol and watches Eggsy's finger squeeze the trigger. The fear in Eggsy's eyes is almost palpable and Harry feels it creeping up his own spine. His heart stutters a moment in his ribs, because in the span of a blink he sees the bullet and then a fine red mist sprays across the left lens of his glasses. There's a part of him that feels heat and humidity thick in the air outside of a ruined church, but it's ripped away by the burst of heat and pain where Mercer's gun presses against side. All Harry can think as he collapses under the weight dragging him down is that Eggsy doesn't deserve to watch him die twice.

“Harry!” Eggsy shouts and scrambles to Harry's side. “Harry, can you hear me?”

Harry's breath is ragged and his eyes are wild, and Eggsy viciously heaves Mercer's lifeless body out of the way and fires two shots into Mercer's chest to be sure the bastard's dead. He praises the makers of silenced pistols and turns to look at Harry's side. There's a bit of blood where the bulletproof suiting was only able to take so much of the impact, but the damage is minimal. Eggsy's heart leaps in his throat as he looks at the blood streaking Harry's face, but he steels himself and pulls the man's glasses off and wipes them clean with a pocket square. He then makes his movements slow and obvious as he wipes the remaining blood from Harry's cheek as well.

“It's alright, Harry. It's not yours,” Eggsy reassures them both and tosses the dirty cloth aside.

Harry looks to the side and sees Mercer's body with a hole between the eyes, and Harry's breathing becomes erratic as he's yanking at his shirt and tie, only succeeding in tightening it around his throat as he pulls. Two inches. Two fucking inches and it would have been him on the floor next to Mercer with a hole in the temple, and Harry doesn't know that he would come back this time.

“Harry, stop. You'll fucking strangle yourself,” Eggsy hisses as he settles closer to Harry's good side.

“Harry, c'mon it's me, Eggsy,” Eggsy tries again, a little louder this time to compensate for Harry's still effected hearing. “You're safe. I'm right here. You can hear me, yeah? Nod if you can.”

Harry nods and squinches his eyes closed trying to clear the images from his head.

“Hey none of that,” Eggsy says. “Look at me. Open your eyes and look at me.”

Harry does as he is told and settles a little bit as he stares back at Eggsy.

“You're having a panic attack. Keep this up and you're gonna hyperventilate. I'm gonna loosen your tie and collar and then you're gonna breathe slowly yeah?”

Harry nods again, but it's easier said than done and he's gulping air like a fish as soon as his neck is less restricted.

“Slowly Harry. Purse your lips like you're whistling.” When that fails, Eggsy cautiously reaches for Harry's mouth and pinches the man's lips a little bit. “Like this, yeah? I'll keep my hand here as long as you need me to. Just breathe with me, nice and slow. You're fine. Just some minor scrapes and some temporary ear trauma.”

A few whistling breaths later and Harry's not quite as on edge.

“Now through the nose, out the mouth. Nose, now mouth.” Eggsy instructs and he slides his thumb to cover Harry's pursed lips on each intake for the first few tries. “Alright, just the nose now.”

Harry has his breathing back under control in record time, because he's a professional. He's Arthur, damn it and he is not going to compromise the mission because he couldn't keep it together. He taps against Eggsy's wrist and Eggsy pulls his hand from Harry's face and returns the man's glasses.

“How are we doing on your end, Rox?” Eggsy asks.

“I've got nothing Eggsy, but the signal is still going.”

“Fuck,” Eggsy spits. “Harry, I'll be right here. I just gotta look for something.”

“I'm fine, Eggsy. No need to treat me like an invalid,” Harry says.

Eggsy frowns at that, because fuck off he's concerned okay? Regardless, he decides to investigate Mercer's corpse. The sound of Harry retching while Eggsy digs through a dead man's pockets indicates just how not fine Harry is, but Eggsy doesn't call him on it. Instead, he focuses on finding the source of the transfer while trying to ignore the mess of blood and brain matter and oh god a few inches and that could have been Harry.

Eggsy gags at the thought, but stops himself before he can vomit. There, the man's breast pocket has a little key fob.

“What do you think Merlin? Trap?” Eggsy asks.

“We don't really have time to guess.”

“Alright,” Eggsy says and clicks the button. A nearby mechanical whir and metallic click indicates that something is happening. Eggsy circles around the desk where the smoking husk of the dummy laptop rests and finds underneath an open safe with a second laptop.

Harry's posture stiffens and he stares at the laptop warily. “Think he might have booby trapped them both?”

“Only one way to find out,” Eggsy replies and carefully picks the laptop from the safe to place it on the desk. “Rox, time to start making your way to my position. Pretty sure we cleared the whole place but I don't want to take any chances.”

“Let me take care of the transfer,” Harry says as he pulls himself up onto his feet.

Eggsy rolls his eyes because of course Harry is pulling that stubborn macho shit. This is Harry Hart; man takes a bullet to the fucking head and is back to work just a few months later. Worrying over the man is going to turn Eggsy's hair gray by the time he's thirty at this rate. Probably why Merlin is bald, come to think of it.

“Like hell you will. You just sit back and let me deal with this.”

“I don't need to remind you what happened to the last one,” Harry says.

“Yeah and you don't exactly need another explosion in your face when you can barely stand straight,” Eggsy spits. “Swear to God, Harry, you get in my way and I'll fucking drop you. I don't have time for your protective bullshit so let me do my fucking job.”

Harry concedes without another word, though his displeasure is obvious.

“Alright, Merlin, what are we looking at?” Eggsy asks as he focuses his attention on the laptop. “Not seeing a magical stop button and pretty sure powering this shit off will do fuck all.”

“No, that would be too easy. Plug in your USB and open up command line, please.”

“Alright.”

“Now I need you to type this exactly as I tell you, understand?”

“Of course,” Eggsy agrees with a smile and follows Merlin's instructions as the man parrots code into his ear.

Gunshots ring out downstairs, but Eggsy keeps his attention on the task at hand while Harry snatches up the long abandoned rifle on the floor and edges towards the door.

“Lancelot, report,” Harry says as he locks the magazine in place.

“Caught a straggler hiding. All clear now, Arthur,” Roxy replies.

The transfer stops and Merlin's nasty little virus corrupts all of the data with two minutes to spare. Roxy joins them and she and Harry stand guard at each entrance to the room while Eggsy packs the laptop in a bag so Merlin can play with it later.

“So one question Harry,” Eggsy drawls, and Harry knows that tone can only mean trouble. “If you're the boss, who debriefs you?”

“I can't tell if you're being serious or if that's a setup,” Harry sighs.

“Bit of both.”

\--

It turns out that Merlin runs their debriefing. And Eggsy seriously wonders how many secrets does that man hold? Eggsy and Harry have a quick visit to medical to tape up minor scrapes and make sure that Harry's not suffering from any lasting trauma. After all is said and done, Eggsy slips into the driver's side of one of Kingsman's many vehicles, and motions Harry to join him. Harry puts up no fuss as he slips into the passenger seat and instead lets his eyes close and tries to relax while Eggsy drives home.

“I'm sorry that the evening didn't go as planned,” Harry says cutting through the tense silence.

“It's alright,” Eggsy replies. And surprisingly, it is. “I mean, me and my guy indirectly saved the world on our first almost-date. Gonna be tough to top that.”

“Planning future first dates already, are you?” Harry scoffs.

“Not unless you're planning on getting amnesia or something. By then I'll have practice romancing you. Sweep you off your feet properly.”

“I don't know. I think it was rather sweet last time.”

Eggsy blushes at the memory of his fumbling awkward attempt in Harry's office when the man was still clueless about Eggsy's feelings. “Yeah, if by sweet you mean embarrassing.”

“You are rather attractive when you blush.”

“Shut up,” Eggsy says, but there's no heat to his words.

Eventually, they reach Harry's house and without missing a beat, Eggsy opens Harry's door like a true gentleman and escorts Harry to his house. For a moment, neither of them really knows what to say. The evening has been a complete disaster, and Harry feels stretched too thin as it is. He doesn't look forward to the nightmares he can feel lurking at the edges of his conscious. Eggsy can't stand the thought of leaving Harry's side knowing his thoughts will be filled with reliving the worst moment of his life in glorious technicolor with the added spice of Eggsy being the one to pull the trigger.

“So, you gonna invite me in?” Eggsy asks.

“Eggsy, I'm not particularly—”

“Given that we saved the world and all,” Eggsy interjects before Harry can get the wrong idea. “I've got plans for us to have some amazing, glorious, intense sleep. Like I'm talking at least ten hours. Followed by a late lunch and lovely conversation, preferably while still in our pajamas, and then I'll make my excuses and run off to my next mission for a week while you wait for me to call every day. There will be pining of course. Pining is mandatory. I don't make the rules.”

Eggsy's earnest proposal earns a laugh out of Harry. “Well,” Harry says. “When you put it that way, how could I possibly say no?”

So, Harry invites Eggsy in and the two adjourn to separate bathrooms to shower and compete over the hot water. Eggsy borrows a pair of Harry's pajamas and steals his red robe, so Harry settles for a fluffy blue spare he keeps, and the two of them end up curled together on top of Harry's bed. Eggsy always assumed getting into bed with Harry would involve a lot more skin and a lot less trauma, but this isn't bad either.

“You alright?” Eggsy asks.

“Just a headache. I've been dealing with explosives since before you were born Eggsy. I can get over the effects quickly enough; I was just caught off guard.”

A few minutes of silence stretch out between them, and Eggsy considers just leaving it because he's tired and cranky and Harry is hurt damn it, even if he won't admit it. But there's a niggling thought in the back of his mind that he can't leave unsaid.

“Sorry 'bout what I said earlier,” Eggsy says with shame coloring his face.

“You're going to have to be more specific,” Harry replies, his voice a little husky with exhaustion. And yeah, Eggsy's definitely diggin' that more than he should be, but he can't let himself be distracted.

“The whole threatening you thing,” Eggsy explains. “When you tried to pull some heroic bullshit.”

“In hindsight, I was being rather unreasonable. I just don't want any harm to come to you.”

“I know. It's still not right, what I said. I mean I know what happens; I saw that kinda shit for years in my own home. I ain't gonna be like that, yeah? So, you should call me out on that shit, and I'll bitch when you're being overprotective. Sound good?”

“Sounds good to me, Eggsy,” Harry yawns.

“Alright,” Eggsy agrees and pulls Harry a little closer, because fuck off, reassuring cuddles are totally badass.

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thank you to everyone that has enjoyed Monarch (and specifically Nonbinary!Eggsy) and left kudos/comments! Seriously. I'm sorry I haven't replied to comments. I have read each and every one of them and I love you all!
> 
> Lastly, the song this series is titled after: [Monarch by Manicanparty](https://soundcloud.com/manicanparty/monarch)


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